Emily Prugnaud

I wanted the frame to be a continuation of the self-portrait rather than an object whose only purpose was to support the painting. I decided to glue castings of objects that have a meaning to me, such as an ink cartridge, a crochet needle and rings, as well as pieces of leftover yarn placed in an organic way onto the wooden frame. These squiggly lines represent my inner world that encroaches on reality and my everyday life: I tend to daydream a lot, and get lost in a world that does not truly exist.

In order to find inspiration, I need to enter that world, and observe the imaginary environment that surrounds me. The only way to enter that world is by closing my eyes. The circular crochet shapes on the top half of the portrait represent the phosphenes I see when I do close my eyes: a mix of my imagination and the stimulation of the retina. The organic crochet and clay shapes emanating from the photograph of myself represent the boundaries and walls I put up to protect myself. I  nd it hard to open up to others and show my true self. There is no particular reason why, I just don’t like being and feeling vulnerable around people, and usually keep all my emotions bottled up instead of addressing them. These shapes embody the bubble of protection that I unconsciously find refuge in.